Can you teach a QB touch???

[VOLfrombama]

Greg Freckleboy said it was better to underthrow than overthrow. I agree with most of what he said.

"At least if you underthrow it, there's a few things that could happen," McElroy said. "One, you get pass interference. Two, your receiver could go up, make a catch on a 50-50 contested catch situation. Or three, it's potentially going to fall incomplete. Underthrown deep balls are so much harder on the defense than they are on the offense because the defender never looks for the football."

Call it touch, air mail, whatever. If Milton puts some more air under his passes, it will give the WRs more of a chance.

Accuracy is being able to throw to the WR in stride. There are only a handful of Qbs that can do that, and most of them have had Hall of Fame careers.

 

[norrislakevol]

Disagree, Heupel made a change after 3 games and started Dillon Gabriel for UCF. History doesn’t support your theory at all.

Well I hope you're right because if he continues to stick with Air Mail Milton I may just lose my sh!t.

 

[DarkAvenger]

Well I hope you're right because if he continues to stick with Air Mail Milton I may just lose my sh!t.

You and me both.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

If the Bloodhound Gang can do it, anyone can.

 

[T2P_Priceless]

Unfortunately there seems to be a comparison with Milton and JG. Both are great practice players but cannot transfer it to game day. We just have to hope our new coach is not like Pruitt and be so stubborn he won't bench him when needed. Which may be now.

The key difference between Milton and JG is Milton has been making mostly good decisions. Hasn't thrown an INT, ran the RPO well (keeping vs run except one time I've seen) and seen the field well. In the first game when they were exclusively rushing 3 only and he had all day I think he focused mostly down field but didn't have that prob vs Pitt. So far his only issue is the touch. Hopefully he can get it worked out. If not, I trust the staff to sit him and start Hooker and/or Bailey.

 

[FLVOL_79]

Yes

With practice.



But seriously, yes. With enough practice you'll develop the touch and it becomes automatic. Its hard to explain though. I know when I played soccer I just knew exactly how to hit the ball to put it exactly where I wanted it. Same goes for golf but only after I've had a few drinks.

 

[nomads-11]

IMO.......No, you can't. You might raise the success rate, but you'll never achieve the levels you find in someone naturally gifted at it.

 

[ETSU VOL]

In practice they have the red jersey and know they can't be hit. Send him to a sports doc to try to get out of his head or better yet get Cam to call him up and say man stop over throwing those balls and run like a man.
Don't tell people you pattern your game after mine playing the way you do, now lets go buy some snazzy hats

Or take his red jersey away in practice until he can learn to throw with touch. Dude is bigger than anyone on the defense except the DLine. He should play like it.

 

[Jackcrevol]

 

[1vol8]

Is this teachable? I don't know but I would have set up some kind of high bar in practice for him to throw up and over to help him with this issue. I guess a lot of drop shot practicing??? into buckets or something from multiple distances??

It can be taught but it’s usually too late at this point of the game. College qbs have been qbs for 10 years before reaching college. So if they don’t have it, they probably never will. But young qbs? Oh yeah! It can be taught. I normally do several drills but the one kids like the most is a game called fooketball. It’s exactly like it sounds. Basketball without dribbling and using a football. Must throw with your dominate hand, step in, over the top and from 3 point range. It teaches touch and accuracy. Usually pretty low scoring though. Lol

 

[GoVols64]

You can absolutely improve a QBs touch if you know what is causing the lack of it. First, “touch” is an extremely subjective measure. You want to know what your QBs tendencies are. In this case overthrowing guys.

The question is why. Footwork? Timing w/receiver? DB disrupted release? Impatience as the rush closes in?

If you can do it well enough in practice you can do it in a game. Coaches need to figure out what variables have changed between his good throws and bad ones. Then you coach the player up on how to fix it.

Someone with Milton’s physical ability can be coached. It’s a matter of breaking old habits and building new ones that work.

 

[sjt18]

I'm not sure. Some probably have. But Milton IMO regresses back to what is natural in games rather than what he practices. Just a few things like not carrying his fakes through on RPO's... but possible indicators that the drills aren't becoming second nature to him.

 

[sjt18]

I believe touch was a problem with Crompton...

 

[Vol865]

It has to be consciously developed over the course of a lot of reps until it becomes natural to judge where you need to put the ball to hit the WR in stride IMO

 

[American_PitVol]

No one could ever teach Shaq to shoot free throws......so no.

Either you can, or you can't.

They should have made a special ball for him to shoot free throws. A basketball looks like a baseball in Shaq’s hands. Go shoot a free throw with a golf ball. Not easy. Not a good comparison.

 

[JohnnyJava]

What is our expectation for completion percentages on passes 50+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage? In total, we would like a qb to complete 60-70% of passes. But that percentage decreases the farther the ball has to travel in the air. Connecting with a receiver running full speed where the ball is travelling 60-75 yards in the air is never going to be a high percentage completion. So, what is your personal expectation 25%, 33%, 50%. Obviously, Milton is running a very low percent. But where do you think realistically he should be on these type throws?

 

[njvols]

Time for true teaching of finer points is off season. Going into UF is no time to still be, as one or two of our former illustrious coaches used to say, "getting 1% better every day". I think, one way or another, we'll have our answer for who QB will be for the rest of the season after the Florida game...whether it's one guy taking it to another level, or one or two guys taking themselves out of the competition.

 

[whodeycin85]

Let me get this straight yall are upset with QB the completes 50% and 36 points a game.


But thrilled to death with a 70% completion and 18.5 points a game


Give me 50% and more points....cause eventually it will rise higher

 

[Ty4Vols]

The guy has touch, he compelets that pass all the time in practice. He is a head case though when it's game time.

 

[whodeycin85]

What is our expectation for completion percentages on passes 50+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage? In total, we would like a qb to complete 60-70% of passes. But that percentage decreases the farther the ball has to travel in the air. Connecting with a receiver running full speed where the ball is travelling 60-75 yards in the air is never going to be a high percentage completion. So, what is your personal expectation 25%, 33%, 50%. Obviously, Milton is running a very low percent. But where do you think realistically he should be on these type throws?

Typically is 30 to 40% lower then passes within 5 yards...so i thin for Joe is probably in the 25 to 35 range and it drops as depth increases..

 

[GVol1966]

I don't know. I think you can learn touch. You just have to know what it feels like to get you to where you want to go.
Just like in golf. Some people use a clock time and a certain clock position with X power will get me X yards.
I worked on my touch for off the green pitch and chips shots by doing an under hand throw as if I was tossing a golf ball and how hard I had to toss in order to get it to land where I wanted.
I don't have to do the under handed thing now because now I know what a shot feels like that I want to attempt. Works for me

Now this is a useful post.
It might help my golf game!!!
Which needs a LOT of help

 

[Enki_Amenra]

Milton will just always throw the ball too damn hard. No way around it. Sometimes even if it's on target it will be dropped. The coaches will probably stick with him though, the way the other staff did with JG because he is good in "practice".

Like Merrill Hess, the minor league record holder for being struck out. It just didn't feel right not to swing.

 

[gtin723]

In practice they have the red jersey and know they can't be hit. Send him to a sports doc to try to get out of his head or better yet get Cam to call him up and say man stop over throwing those balls and run like a man.
Don't tell people you pattern your game after mine playing the way you do, now lets go buy some snazzy hats

It is not his head, it is his FEET, the guys throws flat footed, off his back foot, open stance, he is all over the place and wil never be accurate until he gets his foot work straightened out, along with his other mechanics. Raw talent operating full throttle, 98 mph fastball at 6 yards.

 

[Fullfillmer]

He threw with touch in high school. I don’t know what was taught after but it’s almost like he’s so afraid to under throw and get intercepted that he’s throwing it so only Michael the Arc angel can catch it.

I thought he completed less than 50% of his passes in high school ? And it is high school.

 

[Fullfillmer]

The key difference between Milton and JG is Milton has been making mostly good decisions. Hasn't thrown an INT ( hard to if you overthrow everyone on the field by 15 yards but yes you are correct , ran the RPO well (keeping vs run except one time I've seen) I agree with this - way better than JG and seen the field well couldn't disagree more - he is late finding receivers and going through his progressions - doesn't seem to see the field well at all - signals for his receivers to - GO DEEP - I need to heave one . In the first game when they were exclusively rushing 3 only and he had all day I think he focused mostly down field but didn't have that prob vs Pitt. So far his only issue is the touch. Hopefully he can get it worked out. If not, I trust the staff to sit him and start Hooker and/or Bailey.